From the back cover:
Ginji and Ban are back on the trail of some missing kids and the Divine Design card game that lured them away. When the GetBackers infiltrate the game company’s headquarters, Ban faces off against a powerful foe who’s playing for keeps with a stacked deck! But when a bewitching beauty shows up, will she steal Ginji’s heart?!

Review:
The sudden bursts of back story, some foreshadowing from Ginji, and an overall quite different tone than heretofore make this arc feel really unique, but I can’t, at this stage, predict whether it will wind up really lame or really cool. So far so good, but it isn’t difficult to imagine a disappointing conclusion.

That said, there’s a good deal to like in this volume. This whole arc was left out of the anime, and it might turn out that it contains some crucial information that would’ve made that final Infinity Fortress bit in the anime make more sense. The only real complaint I have is regarding the art, and I’m not even talking about mass quantities of boobs. I am tired of seeing the ridges in roofs of mouths. It looks like characters are munching on spiny insects and is very distracting!

From the back cover:
Now that their fights are over, Ginji and Ban head over to the auction to retrieve the Venus de Milo. With a ploy nothing short of typical for this team, the Get Backers escape with their prize. But, alas, there is never enough cash to go around, so the Get Backers quickly take up a job to retrieve a diamond ring from a hot spring—where the women must be seen to be believed. If that wasn’t enough to drive Ban and Ginji bananas, they are pulled onto a case involving missing children and an eerie card game that not only predicts the future—it affects it!

Review:
This was sooo very much better than volume 13, at least storywise. The translation problems continue. Aside from no sound effects, except in one random panel, there were several spots of dialogue (one in an actual bubble) that weren’t translated.

I rejoice that the ‘Arms of the Goddess’ arc is finally through. A lot of new plot threads were advanced, as well, a couple spinning from the conclusion of that story and a few more spun by Kazuki (a very bad pun) in the hot springs interlude. These two chapters were ever so much better than the anime version (admittedly fuzzy in my memory), with very little focus on the monkeys, and much more on Infinity Fortress information and Kazuki’s history (not to mention his child-bearing hips).

I’m a little concerned these tidbits won’t live up to their potential, but it’s refreshing to go into a new direction, and to an arc that wasn’t animated, at that. So far, the Divine Design storyline seems pretty cool, and I’m glad to get some more hints about Infinity Fortress and its intriguing secrets.

From the back cover:
Ban, Shido, and Emishi make their plans for rescuing Ginji… and for retrieving the limbs of the Venus! Meanwhile, Ginji talks to Miss hela about her hatred of the Venus de Milo and her plans to destroy its mystique by reattaching its arms! The final battles begin with everyone facing off and the secret behind the seven Mirokus is revealed!

Review:
It’s been six months since I read volume 12, and I must extend special kudos for the well-done Story Thus Far recap. And then promptly revoke them for the untranslated sound effects. Sound effects glossaries at the back of the book are a tad annoying, but there’s not one of those either. I can read the sounds, but I don’t always know what they’re supposed to signify. “Poto” when a rat appears means… what? Ta-dah? Poof? Scamper?

I’m not very excited by the Venus arc. It’s kind of boring after the whole Infinite Fortress storyline. With so many mysteries of that place still to be explored, I’m impatient for the characters to go back there. The one aspect of the current storyline that is interesting to me is the Miroku family, but even that is due more to differences between manga and anime than any amazing awesomeness they possess.

So, everyone fights somebody. Ginji is cool as the Lighting Lord. Ban is cool with non-spiky hair. The lady who’s trying to reunite Venus’ arms with her body has a really stupid motivation for doing so. And there’s random crack about some drug enabling you to set your body on fire and be a badass. Maybe I’m more willing to suspend disbelief for kooky fighting abilities in animes. Whatever, just end you stupid arc, end!